Cider
Recipe Menu
Hard Cider
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Source: (jwhite@anovax.enet.dec.com)
Digest: Issue #508, 10/2/90
Ingredients:
-
- 5 gallons sweet cider
- 3 pounds brown sugar
- 3 pounds honey
- 2 packs champagne yeast
-
Procedure:
Strain 3 gallons of cider into a 5-gallon carboy. Strain 1/2 gallon
into pot and heat enough to allow sugar and honey to thoroughly dis-
solve. Pour into carboy and finish filling to neck. Pitch yeast and
seal with airlock. When fermentation stops, bottle. Prime with sugar to
add carbonation.
Comments:
For this recipe to turn out well, do not use pasteurized apple juice. My
last batch took 3 weeks to ferment. If you notice unpleasant smells
during this time, you can ignore them. Boy, does this turn out great!
Specifics:
Primary Ferment: 3 weeks
233
Hard Cider
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Source: A.E. Mossberg (aem@mthvax.miami.edu)
Ingredients:
-
- 1 gallon unfiltered apple juice
- 1/3 packet yeast
-
Procedure:
Remove 1 pint of juice to allow room for yeast activity. Add yeast. Let
sit 4-10 days. Replace pint of juice. Place in refrigerator and enjoy.
Comments:
Sometimes I rack the cider before placing in refrigerator because there
is a heavy build up of dead yeast and particulate matter from the apple
juice.
Specifics:
Primary Ferment: 4--10 days
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Killer Cider
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Source: Al Taylor (s94taylor@usuhsb.bitnet)
Digest: Issue #723, 9/13/91
Ingredients (for 1 gallon):
-
- 1 gallon pasteurized apple cider
- 12 ounce can (Seneca?) 100% Granny Smith apple juice concentrate
- 1 cup white sugar
- Champagne yeast
-
Procedure:
Pour out enough cider to make room in the glass jug for the concentrate
and the sugar and the re-hydrated yeast (I would recommend using cham-
pagne yeast). Mix thoroughly and put an airlock on it. Come back about a
week later, check the gravity and if it bottoms out, prime it with 1/5
of 3/4 cup of white sugar, then bottle it in two 2-liter plastic soda
bottles, well-cleaned, of course. Let it condition for about a week
and...enjoy!
235
Fall Cider
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Source: Mike Ligas (LIGAS@SSCvax.CIS.McMaster.CA)
Digest: Issue #733, 9/27/91
Ingredients (for 6 gallons):
-
- 6 gallons fresh apple cider (no preservatives)
- 3 teaspoon acid blend
- 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
- 2-1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme
- 1 cup Dextrose (corn sugar)
- 1-1/4 teaspoon sulfite crystals (potassium metabisulphite)
- 2 packs dried yeast (Edme)
-
Procedure:
Mix all ingredients except the yeast into the primary, cover and let
stand for 24 hours to dissipate SO2 from sulfite. Hydrate yeast in 1 cup
water at 95-104 degrees for 5-10 minutes and then pitch into cider with
vigorous stirring to aerate. Primary ferment for 5 days. Secondary
ferment for 3 weeks. Prime and bottle as usual.
Comments:
This stuff is peaking after 3 months in the bottle, IMHO.
Specifics:
Original Gravity: 1.055
Primary Ferment: 5 days
Secondary Ferment: 3 weeks
236
Cider
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Source: Jay Hersh (hersh@expo.lcs.mit.edu)
Digest: Cider Digest #59, 11/1/91
Ingredients:
-
- 2 to 2-1/2 gallons fresh cider
- 1 gallon water
- 1 pound M&F Light DME (unhopped)
- 2 cups Cane Sugar
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar Dash of Cinnamon
- 7-14 grams Ale Yeast (Whitbread recomended)
-
Procedure:
Combine all ingredients except yeast. Boil for about 30 minutes, skim
the top if you feel like it. After boiling take this off the stove, and
add about 2 to 2-1/2 gallons of chilled fresh Cider. This should drop
the temperature to below 90 degrees, if not chill it to below 90
degrees, then add an Ale Yeast, 7-14 grams of Whitbread or some other
quality Ale Yeast as good. I let this ferment in the primary for 3-5
days, then rack to a secondary and let sit another 10-14 days before
kegging. I artifically carbonated this one, but amounts of priming sugar
typical for Ales would work well too.
Specifics:
Primary Ferment: 3-5 days
Secondary Ferment: 10-14 days
237
Cranberry Cider
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Source: Jay Hersh (hersh@expo.lcs.mit.edu)
Digest: Cider Digest #59, 11/1/91
Ingredients (for 3 gallons):
-
- 3 gallons Fresh Cider
- 12 ounces Ocean Spray Cranberries
- (chopped in the blender)
- 1 pack Red Star Epernay Yeast
-
Procedure:
Toss all ingredients into a carbouy at room temperature. Put on an air-
lock and go away. Rack after 2-3 weeks and go away again. After another
2-3 weeks bottle and go away for a few months!
Comments:
Drink in the spring, Yumm!
For a variation, substitute 24 ounces of frozen raspberries for cran-
berries. Equally yumm!
238
Raspberry Cider
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Source: Jay Hersh (hersh@expo.lcs.mit.edu)
Digest: Cider Digest #59, 11/1/91
Ingredients (for 3 gallons):
-
- 3 gallons Fresh Cider
- 4 6-ounce packages Red Raspberries, chopped in the blender
- 1 pack Red Star Epernay Yeast
-
Procedure:
Toss all ingredients into a carbouy at room temperature. Put on an air-
lock and go away. Rack after 2-3 weeks and go away again. After another
2-3 weeks bottle and go away for a few months!
Comments:
Drink in the spring, Yumm!
239
NE Cider
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Source: Jay Hersh (hersh@expo.lcs.mit.edu)
Digest: Cider Digest #59, 11/1/91
Ingredients (for 3 gallons):
-
- 3 gallons Cider
- 4 cups cane sugar
- wild yeast (ie. Don't add any yeast)
-
Procedure:
Toss 3 gallons of a good blend of Cider along with 4 cups of cane sugar
into a carbouy. Shake until the sugar dissolves. Put a blow off hose
into the top of the carbouy and let stand at room temperature. After a
few days (or even weeks) the wild yeast will take off and things will
start moving in the carbouy and blow off will rise up from the cider. Be
sure to empty the blowoff jar as needed. Eventually things will settle
down, then put an airlock on and take the blow off hose off. Place the
carbouy in a cool dark place (45-55 degrees). After 2-3 months you can
rack this off to another carbouy. At this point you can rack onto some
unpreserved raisins which will add yeast nutrients and sugars and kick in
a secondary ferment. Let this go for a month or two more and then
bottle. You can prime at bottling time if you want a sprakling cider
(use bottles that can handle some pressure like American Champagne
bottles), or unprimed for a still cider.
Specifics:
Primary Ferment: 2--3 months
Secondary Ferment: 1--2 months
240
Holiday Cider
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Source: Nick Cuccia (cuccia@eris.berkeley.edu)
Digest: Cider Digest #94, 12/17/91
Ingredients:
-
- 5 gallons Apple Juice (Gravenstein/Jonathan blend)
- 6 cups Maple Syrup
- 7/3 tablespoon Whole Cloves
- 1/2 tablespoon Whole nutmeg, grated
- 10 4-inch cinnamon sticks
- 3 lemons (juice and zest)
- 2 inches ginger root, peeled and grated
- 1 pack Red Star Champagne Yeast
-
Procedure:
Simmer 3/4 gallon apple juice, spices and ginger (in spice bags), syrup,
and lemon juice and zest for 45 mins. Add simmered mix to 4--1/4 gallon.
Put cider in carboy. Pitch yeast and top off with more apple juice.
Ferment for 34 days. Rack to secondary and top off with more apple
juice. Prime with 3/4 cup corn sugar and bottle. Age for 30 days and
consume.
Comments:
Good sparkle, mildly yeasty (not careful enough with my secondary rack-
ing), complex flavor, some spice in the nose, too much alcohol (my calcs
say that the alcohol content is about 15%, but it tastes much stronger).
In general, I'm pretty pleased; almost everybody who's tried it has been
pleased as well.
Specifics:
Original Gravity: 1.100
Final Gravity: 0.998
Primary Ferment: 34 days
Secondary Ferment: 22 days
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